lmheffner

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We loved this campground. It is nestled in the mountains of NC. There is plenty of hiking and a lot of deer! They even came in to our campsite during the day looking for food. We stayed on site #76. Most of the sites are sunny as was ours, but ours was bordered by a creek. Overall even with a full campground, it was quiet and people respected the rules (including quiet hours). During the week (before the 4th of July), the campground was almost deserted and we pretty much had the place to ourselves. They have the "push button" showers which can be a pain but the water was always pleasantly warm even with others showering and were always clean. There is no laundry facility which is one of the downfalls. Look for the trail next to site #56 which follows a creek back to a quiet little waterfall (maybe 1/2 mile back, an easy hike). Also stop at the Stone Mountain General Store which is on the way in to the state park. They have ice cream, burgers, crafts, etc. Their firewood is reasonably priced (we didn't see many places with firewood for sale). For our first week long vacation camping, this turned out to be an excellent choice. We will definitely return.

We stayed here 5 nights starting 10/30/09. The sites were mostly level with mature trees an well-maintained grounds. The restrooms were very clean and the showers were also clean. The only negative about the showers is that you can't adjust the water temperature but it was normally warm (though sometimes too hot for a few minutes initially). We stayed at site #171 which is bordered by an access road back to the Horse Park which meant there was traffic next to us but not enough to disturb us. It was a quiet, family oriented park, probably one of the nicest we camped at this year. The camp store had a wide variety of supplies but you are not far from Lexington or Georgetown for anything you may need. We found this campground to be a great home base for visiting Lexington and the Red River Gorge/Natural Bridge (about an hour drive from campground). We will definitely stay here in the future.

Lake Hope SP is a very rustic campground with a lot of sloping, set into mature woods and very few level pads. This is probably not a good campground for large units. We only saw one large motorhome and it was the camphost. This is great for tent camping (the non-electric areas were sparsely populated on a summer weekend) or tent trailers. Our site #77 was fairly level, backed up against the woods however, the sites were narrow so we were hemmed in quite closely with our neighbors. I recommend site #78 which was next to us but did not have any other site right nearby on their living side. It allows for a buffer from having neighbors on both sides of you. The only drawback of our cul-de-sac area is the pit toilet is right there (and water is convenient) and sometimes the odor would blow into our campsite. There are only pit toilets in this campground. The shower houses are not well maintained though we did have plenty of hot water. Only a cursory cleaning was done and the showers also do not have a changing room area with your shower (more like a gym shower area where everyone is out in the open). Mold was living in the grout of the showers also and the water seemed very hard. Fairly quiet campground though the sites again are narrow. On Sunday night, we pretty much had the place to ourselves. There is a lot of large trees around the campsites and after a storm on our second night, we heard a large tree branch fall. The next morning we saw that the branch had come just feet from smashing into a tenting group. We probably won't stay here again unless they upgraded the showers (and did better job cleaning) and added flush toilets at least at the shower houses.

We stayed here for two nights on site #55. The site was large, little shade which is common in this campground but the sites were level. Our site was nice because there was no other site on one side of us. We found that this was a really quiet campground though all the sites were full the first night. There are several hiking trails that wind in and around the campground itself. You could hear a few boats now and then but we were situated far enough away that this was never an issue. The shower house restroom at our end of the park was older and not very clean. There were two showers per men and women sides but there was never enough hot water. We all tried to time our showers around the crowds however all five of us ended up with a freezing cold shower. The cleanliness of the restroom/shower left a lot to be desired. Someone had been sick in the ladies side and supposedly they cleaned it but the smell afterwards even a day later told me that it wasn't cleaned well and we avoided using that stall. If they would upgrade the shower houses and keep them cleaner, we would stay here again.

We stayed for two nights in the A loop. Our site was extremely sloped and in full sun. It was a challenge to get it level. The sites are close together and the campground was full. The first night we were kept up until after 3 a.m. because someone down on the end was playing loud music. This seems to be a more party oriented campground and very little (aka nothing) was done to enforce quiet hours. We went to go swimming at the beach on Acton lake but there were signs up saying the water quality was poor. The signs appeared to be old but we didn't chance it. We inquired about swimming at the lodge but the price was way more than anyone should have to spend for that small of a pool. We drove to Indiana to Brookville lake instead. The showerhouses were in good condition and kept clean. On Saturday night there was a movie shown in the shelterhouse in the center of the campground. Concessions were offered and our teens went over to watch the movie. They had great funnel cakes and the kids enjoyed this part. The proceeds go to the park. They do have a playground and minigolf which was always busy. Nice activities for kids. We will not be staying here again due to the amount of noise and partying going on at our end. The opposite side of the campground does not offered paved pads and it appeared that even more partying was occurring there. If you don't mind noise and enjoy a more rambunctious crowd this will be for you. If you are looking for quiet and peaceful, you might want to consider another park.

The pad for our tent camper only required only a little leveling. The firepit and picnic table were in back of us overlooking the lake. From our camper we could easily see the lake which was right behind us, though it was still wooded. Our site was right next to 45 and there was a little privacy between us but the next site over we had woods between us which afforded a lot more division of sites. The overall condition of the campground was excellent. They are right when they say that bridge from the north was a real mess. The showerhouse was kept well but the timed showers (you push in a button and it only sprays for a couple of seconds) are a real pain. Most of our neighbors were quiet and respectful and the campground was full. The staff was very helpful. The campstore has the usual odds and ends like most places. We will definitely camp here again. We looked at the other sites and the majority of them have large trees around them though some of them are out in the sun. There are some pull-thru sites and we enjoyed the fact that our loop was pet-free accommodations. West Branch beach is well taken care of, the swimming area was sandy and not mushy. Even the boat noise wasn't much of a bother as we were up above the lake. There are mountain bike trails and bridle trails also though we didn't use either. Best State Park we've stayed in so far...

We stayed three nights starting the first night in the B loop. The sites were large and for the most part shady. We were within sight of the lake and could easily walk down to the campground beach though it was really too cold yet for us to really take part in swimming. Unfortunately, we had some rambunctious neighbors come in after the first night so we decided to move to the A loop which does not allow pets (a lot of dog barking in the pet areas). There was only a few other people in our section and we pretty much had the place to ourselves. There is not a very shady section of the campground (more open) but we were happy with our site as it did provide some shade and it backed up to the woods. The showerhouses were in good condition and were well maintained. We enjoyed our stay at this state park and will visit again however, we will stay in the A loop the first time.